A large rubber duck that’s supposed to spread joy in the Canada 150 celebrations is leaving a messy controversy in its wake.

An ugly war of words has raged for three years between Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman and events producer Craig Samborski, self-billed as the “World’s Largest Rubber Duck Owner,” over who owns the copyright for the duck.

An Ontario 150 event is using a $120,000 grant from provincial taxpayers to help cover the cost of bringing Samborski’s inflatable six-storey version for a tour as part of the Canada 150 birthday celebrations.

In a statement, Hofman claims the original image belongs to him and suggests Canadian taxpayers got plucked.

“We think it is most important that if you celebrate such a big event, you always should go for the original,” Kim Engbers, a spokesman for Hofman, said in an email to the Toronto Sun on Thursday. “Show as a nation and as festivals you respect artistic (copyright) and be true to your audience.”

Hofman’s statement said his original duck would have been available to Canada 150 instead of the “counterfeit,” which is being rented out at “exorbitant rates against the wishes of its creator.”

“Had a Canadian government official tried to contact us, we would have provided the real duck,” the statement says. “It is unfortunate this due diligence wasn’t completed.”

Ryan Whaley, who co-owns “Mama Duck” with Samborski, told the Sun that they contracted with Hofman in 2014 to create a large giant duck for an art installation in Los Angeles harbour, but the artist failed to deliver technical drawings as specified.

Whaley described Hofman’s work as “napkin drawings,” and so they employed two other companies to build it.

“It’s very much not a counterfeit duck,” Whaley said. “As a matter of fact, our duck is registered with the U.S. Patent and Copyright Office.”

Their trademark lawyer has advised them that the image of the rubber duck has long been in the public domain, he said.

There are other giant ducks out there, but Waley said their version is the world’s largest and it brings joy and smiles wherever it goes.

He and Samborski are being paid $71,000 for the Ontario tour rental — which includes six stops — not the $200,000 mentioned to Postmedia by the festival organizers, he said.

A spokesman for the Redpath Waterfront Festival redirected Toronto Sun questions to Samborski.

“The duck was contracted from a company named Draw Events. Craig Samborski, the owner, has been working extensively with the duck for several years and can most accurately answer any questions you may have regarding the duck,” the spokesman said.

This is not the first time that the duck’s ownership has been called into question, as feathers have flown wherever the duck has landed in recent years.

Jeff Costen, a spokesman for Ontario Tourism, Culture and Sport Minister Eleanor McMahon, said they had nothing to do with the decision to rent the giant duck.

“It’s a dispute between two independent parties,” Costen said. “We didn’t contract the duck at all. This third party festival, so they’re delivering ... programming including the duck. We gave a grant to that festival but that’s the only relationship.”

PC MPP Vic Fedeli has questioned why Ontario taxpayers would be flowing money to a floating duck that has no real link to Canada or its birthday.